Career Exploration

Future careers are the top thing on college students’ minds. It’s the ultimate reason we are all in college, and it definitely occupies my thoughts. Currently, I am majoring in chemistry. With this, I want to conduct research in a lab. That’s what I want my job to be. I don’t know exactly what kind of research, where I want to do it, or even what type of chemistry I am the most interested in. There is so much I have yet to figure out, but that’s what college is for.

I found the career workshop done in seminar to be very beneficial. It helped me understand more about the job application process and taught me important steps I didn’t know about before. We discussed resumes and cover letters, the latter being a new concept to me. We also talked about the importance of the impression you make not only during an interview, but when applying as well. The purpose of the resume and cover letter is to stand out and prove that you are the best person for the job. We also discussed elevator speeches, something else I was unaware of before the class, but need to definitely work on and prepare before I start applying to jobs. The career workshop definitely made me realize that I have so much to work on before I can apply for a real job.

To further explore career options, in class we took a career exploration and personality test. My RAISEC code was ISC. That stands for Investigative, Social, and Conventional. From this code, O*Net gives career suggestions. My provided career suggestions were Registered Nurse, Audiologist, Pharmacist, Postsecondary Computer Science Teacher, and Postsecondary Library Science Teacher. Although none of these careers are the exact career I would like to follow, they are very similar to my current intended career. They are all very science-based, as I am as well. The closest to my desired career would be a Pharmacist, which is a path that many Chemistry majors take. As of now, I don’t think I want to work in Pharmacy, but maybe I will change my mind and end up being in a Pharmaceutical Lab. It is good to know that my RAISEC personality and job code reflects a similar path to how I want my life to be. This gives me reassurance in my decisions I have made up to now. The next steps I need to complete are receiving my bachelor’s degree and most likely getting a PhD or some graduate school. I also need to get involved in research on campus to gain some experience for future jobs. All the work I put in now and in the upcoming years will hopefully pay off in the long run, resulting in my future employment.